Apple accused of evidence tampering in Galaxy Tab case

Mark Raby, 16th August 2011

It appears that Apple may be trying to make more of a case than it deserves when it comes to banning Galaxy Tab sales in Europe.

The device cannot legally be sold in Germany right now due to a pending lawsuit from Apple that claims Samsung violated its patents and trademarks, making the Galaxy Tab look nearly identical in scope and design to the iPad.

The suit looks to ban sales on all European Union nations.

In many of the pictures submitted to the court, Apple shows the two side-by-side and tries to convince that if a consumer went into the store to buy a tablet, they could be confused over how the two were different.

However, Dutch website Webwereld.nl noticed that at least one of the pictures submitted appears to have altered reality. In the picture (seen above), the iPad and the Galaxy Tab are shown to have 100% identical proportions.

However, in real life, the Galaxy Tab is a widescreen device and thus has a significantly different screen display even though the actual size of the display is the same as the iPad.

Apple will likely argue, if this issue is brought up in court, that the picture is there merely to show the similarities and is not meant to be a fraudulent representation.

Nevertheless, it could be a big deal if the courts don't see it that way. We'll have to wait until the actual court date for that to happen, though.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Tab remains banned in Germany.

Apple also tried to enact the same measure in the US, but its lawsuit here was quickly thrown out.